Thai opposition coalition claims House majority, governing mandate after 1st post-coup election

In a press conference Wednesday, a coalition of seven Thai parties opposed to the ruling military junta claimed it won a majority of seats in the lower house of parliament in Sunday's election, the first held since a 2014 military coup.

The new "democratic front" is headed by the Pheu Thai party, which led the government toppled by the military five years ago. The full preliminary results of Sunday's election, already marred by accusations of vote-buying and irregularities in the ballot count, won't be released until at least Friday; the final results will be released in May.

Sudarat Keyuraphan, Pheu Thai's candidate for prime minister, said the coalition won at least 255 seats in the 500-seat House, earning the right to try to form the next government. The military-backed Palang Pracharath party disagreed, saying early returns indicate it won the popular vote and with it a governing mandate.

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Sudarat said "the democratic front who opposes military rule commands the majority in the House" and "gained the most trust from the people." But under a system set up by the junta, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha and his Palang Pracharath party have a strong structural advantage.

"Since the coup, the junta has used the absolute power it granted itself to go about rewriting the country's laws, including commissioning a new constitution and creating an electoral system that severely handicaps parties without links to the military," The Associated Press reports. "Under the new rules, an unelected 250-member Senate appointed by the junta will join the 500 elected members of the lower house in a vote for prime minister, meaning a party without Senate support would have to get the support of 376 house members to ensure its choice becomes premier."